San Antonio's Market Square

My parents came to visit us for a week!  It was so stinking hot outside -- so we limited how much we were outside.  One day we drove downtown San Antonio to the Market Square.  It's a very cool place in which the atmosphere is recreated to resemble a Mexican Market.  I was nearly out of my Mexican vanilla anyways, so it was time to make a trip to Mexico!  (while still being in the USA).

You can find all this "Nacho Libre" wrestling masks being sold here....

Lots of color everywhere!  On the weekends, there are bands playing outside, and lots more vendors from Mexico are here.

Inside of this big warehouse, you can find individual shops full of tortilla warmers, marble chess games, silly children's games, pottery, martini glasses, sombreros, blankets, Mexican vanilla (my favorite of all!), and many more!

There can be so many odd things on display here.....

In a way, once you've seen one store, you've seen them all.  Signs posted are "you break!  You buy!" (I'm still traumatized from the experience of going to Mexico when I was in grade school and somehow .... SOMEHOW I broke this elephant -- they chased us around the market.  I thought for sure they were going to throw a 9 year old in jail.).  Why they put all the breakables RIGHT at the edge, I'll never know.

Another sign is "NO PICTURES!!  $1 for pictures!" and there's a weird creepy paper mache person in which you can pay to have your picture taken with... Ooookkkaaayyy. 

Another sign is "No pictures with hats!"  I guess trying on those sombreros is a popular idea.  Why buy one when you can snap a picture w/ one on your head and call it a day?  That way, you don't have to bring the sombrero home!!! 

Here's a picture of my dad & the girls -- this is picture #30, I believe.  My mom took FOREVER to take some pictures (I kept saying "aren't you done yet Mom????  Mom?  Now Mom??"), so most of my pictures involve them looking at my mom, or one of the three are blinking. 

And here's one of my momma....